NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40 - After-Math
Everything is quiet for several moments.
The wave of light thoroughly destroyed any setpieces that dared be present on stage, and most of the seats in the first few rows. The monsters on stage have been sent flying, and many are now buried under wooden scraps that once formed my set dressing.
The first sound I hear is a gasp, as Larissa the rogue pushes a mostly intact chest off of herself and begins to rise in a daze.
Shortly thereafter my monsters all begin freeing themselves from their shallow wooden graves as well.
The first to emerge is Juliette, and she pulls out the unconscious form of the dwarf with her. Then Sebastian who never quite made it on stage frees himself.
The unnamed mannequin carrying my concealed form is somewhere in the middle of the pack, after the set of animated clothing that acts as a tailor for my costume shop and some of his fellow unnamed monsters.
The dust continues to settle as we all recover from the unexpected explosion. Larissa makes her way over near Juliette while I take flight and shake off the dust clinging to my glorious form.
“That was unpleasant. I apologize to you and the dungeon for this. I had disliked Marcus, but I had no idea he was a devil worshiper. The fact that a devil worshiper was trusted enough by the church to be sent as an inspector is concerning and I shall have to raise a word with the adventure guild leadership and the mayor. … I know you might want to punish my other party member yourself, but would it be possible to give him to me for custody? He may have important information we can extract.”
I think on this for a second.
It sounded like the dwarf was acting under duress, but he still tried to kill my precious monsters. Do I have it in me to forgive him enough to simply give him over to someone else for custody?
I don’t know.
But I do owe Larissa as well. Had she not helped, I am not sure I could have beaten the paladin, even with all my monsters. He was terrifying.
So, I guess I will grant this, just this once.
Juliette reluctantly releases the dwarf and hands his unconscious body to Larissa, who pulls out cuffs from a little pocket in space that she opened and then cuffs his hands behind his back.
The cuffs are inscribed with some manner of runic language and as soon as the lock clicks, the inscriptions start glowing softly.
“This will prevent any casting. I will exit the dungeon now and make some arrangements, the next time you receive visitors I pray it shall be a more savory kind. Rest assured we will conduct thorough background checks on potential delvers, you have my word.”
With this, she begins dragging off the dwarf and exits my halls.
And Immediately, I am assaulted by notifications.
Dungeon Delve successful.
Tribute detected.
Assimilation complete.
Automatic Loot Unlocked.
Evocation Affinity expanded.
Experience awarded.
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Room Limit Increased.
New Basic Template Selection Available.
Then this one showed up… 11 times.
Your monster has unlocked a Class!
Class selection available!
Your monster has unlocked a new Class Skill!
Your monster has unlocked a new Class Skill!
Your monster has unlocked a new Class Skill!
Right. I will deal with these one by one, in the meantime, we are gonna have to fix this mess.
If I could, I would vaguely gesture just about everywhere. So sorry to dump this workload on you, Sebastian, and that after you already worked so hard getting everything set up for this. Know that your work is immensely appreciated.
While my most important mannequin for the continued operation of this troupe goes to work doing what he does best, cleaning my mess, I pull up my status.
Status
Name: The Playwright
Level: 16
Creature Type: Dungeon Core
Affinities:
Inherent: Dual(Transmutation/Illusion)
Acquired: Evocation (Lesser)
Rooms: 4/5
Monster Capacity: 63/141
Unlocked Templates:
Animated Mannequin
Animated Clothing
Sprite
Mimic
Selection Pending
Monster Roster (Expand)
Room List:
Stage Hall (Grand)
Foyer (Crowded)
Costume Shop (Shifting)
Dressing Rooms (Swapping)
The monster Capacity increases at a very strange rate, and the numbers are constantly all crooked, which somewhat annoys me, but it is good to know that I have room to play around with.
I guess, as per tradition by now, I should do the template selection first.
Now then.
Please choose a monster type to receive an initial monster template in from the following lists:
Transmutation:
Slime (Lesser)
Chimera (Lesser)
Animated Object (Lesser)
Shapeshifter (Lesser)
Plant (Lesser)
Animal (Lesser)
Elemental (Lesser)
Illusion:
Fae (Lesser)
Demon (Lesser)
Naga (Lesser)
Spirit (Lesser)
Abomination (Lesser)
Plant (Lesser)
Animal (Lesser)
Elemental (Lesser)
Evocation:
Arcane Entity (Lesser)
Slime (Lesser)
Plant (Lesser)
Animal (Lesser)
Elemental (Lesser)
What this little incident showed me is that I need to be more wary of adventurers. Even if they offer tribute and don’t trigger my bloodlust, they may have less than honorable intentions. Ideally, if they ever get in the same room as me, they will be too tired to fight should they attempt to.
I will need something to wear them down, and grind away at their spirits and ressources while they maneuver through my halls.
Unfortunately I don’t know if there is a template that provides this, and I really don’t feel like branching out much more than I already have. Maybe I will eventually pick up something like a spirit or a slime, but right now I simply decide to go for one that has done right by me so far.
Shapeshifter (Lesser) selected!
Basic Monster Template Generated:
Doppelganger, Juvenile
Next Monster Template available: Level 20